Cats and Dogs differ in the way bone cancer matures and how treatment should be administered. Because of the rapid nature of osteosarcoma, treatment should be sought as soon as possible. The only trouble is that the most common sign, lameness and pain usually happens when it is already taken firm hold. It is also mistaken by owners at first as arthritis, stiffness or pulled muscle in which veterinarian care is usually not immediately sought.

Osteosarcoma is the most common long bone tumor in dogs and cats. This is a very aggressive tumor causing lysis (disintegration of bone) or bone production or both. There is some degree of soft tissue involvement and metastasis (transfer of the disease to another part of the body) is common in the early part of the disease.

Canine Osteosarcoma Treatment

There are several available options for the treatment of osteosarcoma. Chemotherapy in combination with surgery are considered to be the primary therapy in dogs without any detectable metastasis. Amputation or limb sparing will resolve the primary tumor and resolve the pain and lameness associated with osteosarcoma. However, on cases where surgery alone is performed, 90% of affected dogs will die of metastasis within one year.

The goal of surgery is to remove the tumor along with a clean healthy cell margin. This is usually accomplished by amputation. Limb sparing could also be done with insertion of an allograft after removal of the affected segment of bone. An allograft is a graft of tissue taken from a donor of the same species sufficiently unlike genetically to interact antigenically.

Also, chemotherapy significantly prolongs the survival of dogs with osteosarcoma when used in conjunction with surgery. Medicinally, Cisplatin alone or in combination with doxorubicin markedly improves survival time to a median of 8-10 months with the percentage of dogs alive after 11 months at 50%. Carboplatin another drug with less renal toxicity has the same survival time as Cisplatin.

Furthermore, radiation therapy is also used in the treatment of osteosarcoma. This is very important for limb saving procedures, since it aids in local control after marginal resection (removal). It usually provides pain relief after the 3rd or 4th session. This option is attractive for those who do not want to pursue amputation procedures.

Most animals adapt mentally well to amputation. Probably because survival is a basic instinct and they do not have any social pressures associated with it. Physically, animals that are young and not overweight adjust the best. As a veterinarian, I find that the immediate key to a successful amputation is the aftercare and the ability to keep the pet from licking or biting at the wound. Animals that are not compulsive in this manner require less care and heal more quickly with less chance of additional infection.

Feline Osteosarcoma

Unlike its canine counterpart it has a much lower rate of metastasis and longer term survival can be expected with complete excision. Median survival for cats with osteosarcoma is approximately 2 years with many cats outreaching that. Due to the slow metastatic rate, radiation therapy can play an important role in osteosarcoma that cannot be totally excised. Though, chemotherapy is not routinely warranted due to the slow metastatic nature of feline osteosarcoma, it should be considered in a case to case basis.

Conclusion:

This actual pet owner's testimonial says it all:

"In July of last year, (2001) our 8 year old dog was diagnosed with a fast growing type of bone Cancer. Since there was nothing that our vet could do for him, and we were told that his bones would eventually become so brittle that they could break with him just going up and down the stairs of our home, it was decided that we would have to have him put to sleep.

My husband and I did not want to face his death so soon so decided to wait and see how things went. Over the next few weeks he almost gave up eating altogether and had lost about 20 lbs. He felt bad for him because his ribs were sticking out and so we scheduled to have him put to sleep later that same week.

I received a call a few days later from a friend that told me about Transfer Factor Plus Advanced, and so we decided to give it a try what did we have to lose. We began giving him 2 capsules a day for about 2 months. He seemed to be improving so we stopped giving it to him. After a few weeks he stopped eating again and he was dragging his front leg again. We thought that we were beginning to lose his battle with Cancer.

We did not realize that with someone as sick as our dog was, their immune system is weak and they need the constant help of Transfer Factor Plus Advanced to stimulate the immune system to continue working. So once again after a follow up call from my friend, in December, we decided to start him back on 2 Transfer Factors in the morning, and 2 in the evening.

It has been 7 months now since we first got the bad news, and much to our vets amazement, our dog is continuing to improve. We will have another x-ray in a few months to see how the bone is healing, but the swelling has totally subsided, and he is once again running and playing with his friends again. The neighbors really feel as though this is truly a miracle, and I tell them no, it is what our bodies are designed to do when our immune systems are strong. Gismo our Dog is continuing to improve, and we still give him 2-4 Transfer Factors a day. I will be anxious to see what his x-rays show in a few more months."

LM / Washington State